Hellscapes- A short Story
by Nero- Emperor of Roses
Summary: "And so, by the name you gave yourself as humanity's morning star, their light-bringer, I banish you to the void; Lucifer." The story of the archangels of heaven, the fall of Lucifer, and the origin of sin. Trigger Warning: content may offend religious readers. Please keep in mind that this story is meant to entertain, not to express my own beliefs or views.


Hellscapes- A Short Story

A little more than two hundred thousand years ago is where our story begins. Until then, the world had been empty, save for God. God was a being of unimaginable ability, and He had the power of creation. Thus far, He had used this power to create life in the forms of beasts and critters and plants and organisms so small that they could not be seen. He had crafted the sun and the moon, poured the oceans and pulled land out from the depths to place all of His living creations upon that could not survive in the waters. Yet, of all his creations, God was lonely. The beasts and critters and plants and invisible organisms could not recognize Him as their father, their creator, and could not give Him the attention and gratitude He so desperately craved.

And so, God made another creation, one that He fashioned in His own image, made of the fertile soil of the land he had pulled from the depths. Man. Of course, He did not make just one man. No, He made hundreds and thousands of them, and He gifted each of them with intelligence, that they may recognize Him and name Him and shower Him with gratitude and love.

The moment mankind set their eyes upon Him, however, they did not shower Him as he had hoped, they simply stared at Him blankly.

"Why?" He asked desperately, white hot rage bubbling up inside Him. "Why do you not shout my name? Why are you not grateful to your father for giving you life?"

It was then that one man came forward and spoke to God.

"Please, forgive us." He pleaded with God. "It is not that we are not grateful, for we are, more than words can truly express. It is simply that we have no name by which to call you."

God's temper faded then, as He realized that the man spoke the truth. In His desperation to be recognized and loved and adored, He had failed to give mankind a name to adore Him by. And so, He looked at the man standing before him, and He thought long and hard. Finally, He smiled. "Very well, then I shall give you a name by which I shall be revered. It will be a glorious name, one that will be loved by man for all time." He said, then He spoke His name softly in the ear of the man standing before Him, and the man smiled at God.

"It is truly a glorious name." He agreed readily, then made a request of God. "Might I ask you to grant each of us names as well, so we may be closer to you?" He asked, hoping against hope, and all of his fellow man stared at God, their eyes mirroring the man's who had spoken to God.

God smiled proudly at his new creation, confident that He had finally found what He had spent eternities searching for. "Of course!" He said gladly, looking at the man. "Your name shall be…" God paused, looking down at the ground in thought. He focused, then, on the red soil from which He had created mankind, then stared at the man for a long while, until the name came to Him. "I will call you Adam, which means "Son of the red earth"." He said, and Adam bowed his head in reverence to God, who had now given him both life and a name.

One by one, God gave many of mankind a name, until they began to figure out how to give themselves names, learning by watching and listening to God. As He noticed this, He stepped back and watched in wonder as His newest creation surpassed nearly instantly everything He had hoped. And even though man was now naming itself, He could still see the love and adoration for Him in each of their eyes.

…

It was some years later when God made another creation. Man had been flourishing for decades by now, and had begun developing cities and tools and civilization, trying to make God proud of them and their ability to learn, the precious gift that God Himself had given them. But now, many men were growing tired and old, their bodies not as strong as God's, and their numbers were slowly dwindling as they one by one lost their lives to things that God had not foreseen, such as old age and injuries from their attempts to create things for themselves. God saw the numbers of his favorite creation falling, and he grew sad, knowing that if he created more, then the same fate would simply befall them, as well, and he would again be left alone.

It was then that Adam, the first man that God had given a name, came to Him with an idea.

"What if, instead of simply creating more of us, you gave us the ability to create more of ourselves? That way, we can ensure that there will always be man to adore you?" Adam suggested, and God thought about Adam's idea.

Finally, after some time, God agreed, and He created a being again from the red dirt. He called this one a "woman", and told Adam that she would be given the gift to bear his children, which would then grow up and become men and women like the two of them.

Adam found the woman incredibly beautiful, and plucked, for her, a flower he found near the dirt from which God had created her. He then gave the woman a name which reflected the hope she represented for the life of future mankind, and called her "Eve".

God then created hundreds and thousands of women like Eve, and granted them each the ability to bear children with the men, so that mankind could flourish on its own.

He then turned to the bodies of the men that had lost their lives and was again saddened by their loss. He decided then that no more of their deaths should be meaningless, and so He gave those still alive one more gift; a soul. These souls gave each and every man and woman the certainty that they would continue living, even after death.

Finally, God made a paradise for the souls of those who had loved Him in life, a place where they could continue to live alongside Him for all eternity. He created beings that would watch over humans during their lives, beings who would guide them and protect them. He made these beings look similar to the humans they were tasked with protecting, though they lacked the souls and free will he had given to the humans, gifted instead with white feathered wings they could use to watch over humans from above.

As the first human souls began entering paradise, however, God was dismayed to find that they were more enchanted by the sight of these winged guardians than they were by the paradise He had created for them, or even God Himself. And so, for the first time, God changed Himself. He crafted a beautiful set of golden wings for Himself, larger and more splendid than the wings possessed by the angels that the humans had begun to fawn over. He then watched as His favorite creations again flocked to His side in reverence, no longer paying any attention to the angels.

Now, a word about these angels created to serve as humanity's guardians. As they did not possess souls, they also were incapable of emotions such as jealousy or anger, and so they felt nothing from humanity's abandonment of them in favor of God. They also had no free will to make choices of their own. All they knew was their purpose to serve God's wishes and protect humanity.

And so, with God's attention being pulled towards the humans already in paradise, adoring Him, an angel named Michael stepped up to speak for the rest of the angels, much as Adam had done for humanity nearly a century earlier. Michael became the leader of the angels, and God's most trusted servant in the task of humanity's protection. He formed his own hierarchy within the angels, believing this system would allow them to more efficiently guide humanity in life, and selected eight other angels to be his equals and lead the rest in their duty.

Then, the nine Archangels and all of their brothers and sisters descended upon Earth to execute God's will and guide humanity.

No sooner had they arrived upon the Earth's surface, however, when one of the Archangels chosen by Michael, the one known as Asmodeus, caught the eye of Adam's wife, Eve.

Eve, much like the souls of the departed men and women who had at first fawned over the visage of the angels in paradise, was enchanted by the sight of the fair Asmodeus, and instantly fell in love with him, despite having already been given to Adam. That fact in and of itself was the problem for Eve. God had _given_ her to Adam, though He had also given her the same free will He had given Adam, and He had not let her choose Adam for herself. As such, Eve did not love Adam the way she now found herself loving Asmodeus.

As for Asmodeus, he, like his brothers and sisters, was actually incapable of emotion at all, and so Eve was heartbroken when she found that her feelings could never be returned.

Asmodeus felt as though he was failing in his duty to guide Eve when he saw her beginning to succumb to her heartbreak, and so he offered to do anything to make her feel better, believing that by doing so, he could guide her back onto the path that would lead her to paradise, to be with God once more. What she asked of him, however, was something he had certainly not expected.

"I want you to take a part of my soul for yourself, so that you may feel for me what I feel for you." Eve begged Asmodeus.

Asmodeus, though surprised by this request, quickly agreed, stalwart in his belief that this was the right thing to do, and he took a small portion of Eve's soul into himself. Having never been exposed to emotion before, he was immediately overwhelmed by the complexity of everything he was feeling, all at once.

Being that the soul he now carried had come from Eve, he could feel everything she had ever felt; her love for Asmodeus himself, her contempt for Adam, who had been chosen for her against her own will, her yearning to be able to make her own choices, rather than having them made for her. He could now remember feeling pain and loss from watching people she cared about die of old age and sickness and injuries, and also joy as she had watched other women giving birth to children, new life entering the world.

As he looked around, Asmodeus found himself now able to appreciate the beauty of the world around him, both in the sadness and in the happiness, and he felt a strong desire to share this with his brothers and sisters.

Later that night, he returned to paradise and sought out the other archangels, telling them of the wonderful thing that had happened to him. He shared with them small portions of the part of Eve's soul that he was nurturing within himself, quickly making it his own soul, and watched as, one by one, each of them was overwhelmed, as he was, by emotions. Even Michael himself fell to his knees in shock at everything they had been missing.

Together, the archangels descended upon the Earth again, this time to experience the world themselves with new eyes.

They sought out Adam, the man who was favored by God, and told him who they were, that it was their task to guide humanity to paradise, but asked, in return, for some guidance, themselves, as they were new to this world, and wished for help in experiencing everything it had to offer.

Adam, now treated as a king by his fellow man, agreed readily, assuming their request was the will of God, and decided to help grant their wish. He treated them to a feast, where they were able to sample many of the foods humans had learned to cook. One of the archangels, Beelzebub, fell in love with the flavors he experienced, eating a bit of everything in sight, much to the surprise, and amusement, of Adam and the other archangels, who had to agree that they had never had anything like it.

Michael asked Adam if he had seen much the world, and Adam replied that he had done some traveling, and had seen much. Michael then asked that Adam simply show him some of the things he had seen. Adam agreed to this request, and informed Eve that he would be going on a journey with Michael, who would be accompanied by his brother and sisters, Gabriel, Sabriel, Leviathan and Uriel. Michael asked Asmodeus and the other archangels to remain behind with Eve and the other humans, telling them that they would only be gone for two days, that they could ask Adam to take them exploring again another time.

The next day, Michael, Gabriel, Sabriel, Leviathan and Uriel departed with Adam for their two-day exploration, leaving Asmodeus in charge in their absence.

All day long, and into the night, the people of Adam's home city threw a celebration in honor of their guardians, treating the archangels to everything they had to offer. And while his siblings all partied with the humans, Asmodeus stole into Eve's bedchambers, Adam's wife along with him, and shared Eve's bed with her, now able to return her love for him because of his new soul. There, he stayed all night, completely ignoring the outside world, paying attention only to the woman he found himself hopelessly in love with.

Outside the bedchambers, the celebration raged on, each of Asmodeus' siblings falling into temptation. Mammon had taken particular interest in the gold and gemstones he saw everywhere in Adam's palace, and found himself slipping many of them into his pockets to take with him back to paradise.

Likewise, Beelzebub had completely given in to his temptation, gorging himself on every food he set eyes on, and washing it all down with glass after glass of wine, never knowing of the effects the alcohol would have on him.

Belphegor, the most reserved of the archangels, was quite disturbed by what he was seeing from his three brothers, yet his newfound love for his siblings stayed his tongue, though he knew he should put a stop to this behavior.

The celebration did not, as one might expect, stop after that night. Instead, it carried on into the next day, as that day happened to be the one hundredth anniversary of the day God had created man and given them all names. As such, Asmodeus took advantage of the commotion and distraction, and again stole into Eve's bedchambers, completely unaware of the debauchery his brothers had been up to the night before.

Mammon fell deeper into the depths of his coveting, taking golden jewelry and silk clothing from any human too drunk to stop him, hoarding it in a chest he had sealed magically, intending to bring it all back to paradise with him.

Beelzebub, too, fell deeper into his own dark pit, constantly intoxicated on wine and gorging himself on food, though his appetite had long since passed.

Still, Belphegor watched his three brothers' descent into madness, not understanding why they were acting this way, despite being guardians who were supposed to guide humanity and protect them.

And still, Belphegor did nothing to stop them and set them straight.

The next day, Michael returned with the others, and was horrified at what he saw. The palace had been nearly completely torn apart by the celebration without Adam there to keep it under control, and at the very center of it were Michael's own brothers.

Michael saw Mammon, sleeping atop the chest containing all of his stolen goods. He saw Beelzebub, unconscious with his head on the feast table, dozens of plates scattered around him with varying amounts of food left on them, his goblet of wine tipped over and spilled all over the table and floor. Belphegor, he saw sitting on the steps, his face buried in his hands in shame.

"Where is Asmodeus?" Michael asked Belphegor angrily, and Belphegor pointed him towards Eve's bedchambers, where Michael and Adam both found Asmodeus asleep with Eve curled into his side.

Furious, realizing that he had been deceived, and that the archangels were not here as God's will, Adam threw the angels out of the palace, ignoring Michael's pleas for forgiveness, that he had never intended any of this to happen.

The archangels then all returned to paradise, where Michael had no choice but to tell God of what had happened, who demanded that they each give him back the souls they had borrowed from Eve, including Michael, Gabriel, Uriel and Leviathan, though they had not participated in the shameful behavior of their brothers.

Michael, Gabriel, Sabriel and Uriel each reluctantly agreed but before they could hand over their souls, Leviathan refused, infuriating God even further.

"Why are we being punished when we did nothing wrong?" Leviathan demanded, looking over her shoulder to Belphegor, who also had not actually participated in their brothers' debauchery.

"I never intended for any of you to possess souls in the first place. Your attainment of these stolen souls goes against my will, and will only distract you from your duty to guide humanity." God said firmly. "Hand over your souls, or you will face the same punishment as your brothers who have strayed." He said, glaring at Asmodeus, Mammon and Beelzebub.

Leviathan looked back towards the departed souls of the humans who resided in paradise now, and saw the happiness on their faces, their carefree attitudes, and she felt tears begin to fall at she glared back at God and again refused to give up her soul.

God glared back at her, his fury growing as he picked her up by the tips of her wings, ripping them off, tearing them from her back and throwing her to the ground.

"Your envy towards the humans has sealed your fate, Leviathan!" He screamed at her, creating a black void above them and casting her into it.

Asmodeus and the other archangels watched in horror as God cast aside their sister, no knowledge as to what her fate truly entailed, though Asmodeus knew he would soon find out.

God then turned to Belphegor, his fury not yet sated. Like Leviathan before him, God tore the wings from Belphegor's back and cast him into the black void behind his sister. "You stood by and watched as your brothers fell into darkness, and did nothing! Now, because of your sloth, you will join them in the darkness!" He roared.

"Please, no! Stop this!" Asmodeus pleaded with God. "It was my fault! Don't punish them!" He begged, believing that if any should pay the price, it was him, not they, for it was he who had accepted a portion of Eve's soul, his actions that had begun everything that had unfolded.

"Your lust for the wife of Adam has led to the corruption of your brothers and sister, Asmodeus. You will suffer my full wrath!" God told Asmodeus, furious, and He prepared to smite Asmodeus, to obliterate him, rather than simply cast him down as He had Belphegor and Leviathan.

Just as God was about to smite Asmodeus, however, his sister, Sabriel stepped in, telling him, Mammon and Beelzebub to run, then took the full force of God's attack herself.

Asmodeus watched helplessly as his sister was obliterated in front of his very eyes, but Mammon was not going to let her sacrifice be in vain. He grabbed his two brothers and vanished before God's eyes, fleeing His fury.

They retreated to Earth, using their angel magic to disguise themselves as humans and hide in the very city which they had recently been thrown out of for their crimes.

Now unable to find Asmodeus, Mammon and Beelzebub due to their cunning trickery, God went to Adam and informed him that the one who had defiled his wife was now hiding amongst Adam's people, attempting to escape His wrath. And so, in his anger towards Asmodeus for committing adultery with Eve, Adam made a third request of God; that he be given the power to find Asmodeus and exact God's wrath himself.

God granted this request and gave Adam His powers, strengthening him well beyond the power of a mere human.

So, Adam set out to search his city, God's new agent on Earth, seeking to punish Asmodeus, the man he had entrusted his wife's safety to, only to be betrayed.

As Adam knew his city and its people far better than God, he was quickly able to find Asmodeus and his brothers, their meeting now resulting in a bloody fight that ended with Mammon and Beelzebub near dead, along with a great portion of the city destroyed, many of its residents lying dead as well, and Adam standing over Asmodeus as he pleaded for mercy, knowing that he and his brothers were no match for the almighty power of God's fury.

Adam raised his hand to smite Asmodeus, but his hand was stayed as Michael appeared beside him, asking for Adam to forgive Asmodeus' transgressions, explaining that they were each new to emotions, as they had never had souls before, until Eve had been kind enough to give Asmodeus a portion of hers, which was then shared with each of them. Asmodeus, Mammon and Beelzebub had simply let their emotions control them by mistake, and Michael knew that such could have happened to any of them had they not been away from the temptations of the city during the celebration.

Adam's anger was too great to be completely absolved, however, and he demanded punishment for the crimes of Asmodeus and the others.

Michael, saddened already by the loss of two of his siblings, hesitated to grant Adam's request, and this hesitation caused Adam's rage to resurface. Again, Adam attacked. This time, however, his target was Michael himself. He blamed Michael, the leader of the archangels, for bringing Asmodeus and the others to his city, for distracting him and leading him away from his wife while Michael's brothers wrought havoc on his home while Asmodeus lay with his wife. The battle raged long, and spilled the blood of many more humans, leaving the city in ruins. Among the casualties was none other than the woman who had truly been the start of everything. In the rubble of Adam's former palace, Eve lay dead and broken, cradled in Asmodeus' arms as he wept for her loss.

Now fueled by a rage all his own, Asmodeus joined the battle between Michael and Adam, though Michael tried to put a stop to the battle entirely, using his own magic to stop Adam and Asmodeus in their tracks.

In the pause, Adam caught sight of Eve's body, and his grief caused his rage to stall as he began to weep for her. His grief was not to last, however, as his anger soon returned again, directed fully towards Michael, adding Eve's death to the countless things he blamed on the archangel.

Himself grief-stricken by the wanton death and destruction all around him, Michael turned to Adam and spoke.

"Your wrath towards us is justified, but it has led to the deaths of many and unprecedented destruction. I hereby strip you of the name "Adam" and give you the name "Satan", for you are the adversary of mankind as well as of the angels of paradise. Furthermore, I banish you to the void, where your wrath will never again touch the face of the Earth." He said solemnly as he opened a portal to the same void which God had banished Leviathan and Belphegor, tossing the man formerly known as Adam inside, where he would never escape.

Michael then turned to Asmodeus, Beelzebub and Mammon. "The three of you allowed your emotions to control you, and so you have caused this destruction just as much as the man now called Satan. I have no choice, then, but to banish each of you to the void as well, for your crimes of lust, gluttony and greed." He said, then, rather than rip their wings from their backs, as God had done to Belphegor and Leviathan, he simply severed them with his sword before turning the portal towards them. Instead of being thrown into the void, Asmodeus, Mammon and Beelzebub were allowed to step into the void, joining Satan, Belphegor and Leviathan.

But Michael was not finished. He returned to paradise, then, to God's throne, where He sat, watching the entire battle. God gazed furiously at Michael, angry at His most trusted servant for having banished His favorite human to the same hell He had created for the sinful angels. But Michael found himself supported by Gabriel and Uriel, and the three archangels confronted God. His pride had been the true cause of everything, the archangels believed. His pride had caused Him to create the humans in the first place, to give them souls so that they could be reflections of God's own glory. His pride had led Him to withhold those same souls from the archangels, ensuring their autonomous loyalty to Him in their servitude. He had made the angels to guide the humans, yet not the tools they needed to truly understand them. They could never have hoped to guide the humans if they could not feel the same things as them. And, Michael believed, if they had had souls all along, Asmodeus, Mammon and Beelzebub would have been accustomed to having emotions, and would not have allowed themselves to be controlled thusly. Therefore, even though God believed himself blameless, it was His pride which had truly caused everything.

Michael, Gabriel and Uriel ignored God's anger as they, together, froze him much as Michael had done to Adam and Asmodeus, and Michael spoke.

"Long ago, you gave yourself a name for the humans to worship you by. Since then, you have ruled over all of creation, yet you grace so few of your creations with gifts as you do the humans. Your favoritism towards them, and your pride in yourself for having created them has led to this. You believe that you have brought the light to the world, but it is your pride that has dimmed the light." Michael said, and he, Gabriel and Uriel took hold of God's golden wings, which He had created to place Himself above the angels, to ensure He would be adored and worshipped by all, and they turned the golden feathers black, stripping His symbols of His pride. "And so, by the name you gave yourself as humanity's morning star, their light-bringer, I banish you to the void; Lucifer."

Then, the three archangels banished God, the being named Lucifer, to the void.


End file.
